Roger Carp’s book, Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! A Photo History of an American Icon, has won several awards. The title won Gold for Best Coffee Table Book from the National Indie Excellence Book Awards; Silver for Best History from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA); Silver for Best Coffee Table Book from IBPA, Silver for […]
The Atlas Classic HO Alco RS11 is back in new paint schemes and road numbers. We recently received a sample decorated for Burlington Northern, and our resident BN fan, Senior Editor Cody Grivno, is here with the scoop. Learn about the full-size Alco RS11 and Burlington Northern 4183; get a close-up look at the factory-applied […]
Atlas O Premier EMD GP38-2 Scale: O (1:48) Price: $659.95 Era: 1972 to present (varies based on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205; 908-687-0880; shop.atlasrr.com Atlas O Premier EMD GP38-2 features: 1:48 scale proportions ABS body Detachable snow plow Digital Command Control/Digital Command System decoder Die-cast metal truck […]
News & Products for the week of June 23rd 2025 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of June 23rd, […]
Milinda Diane Griggs, Flowery Branch, Georgia, passed away on Wednesday, May 21st, 2025. She was 68. Milinda was preceded in death by her parents, Wiliam and Alice Thomas of Findlay, Ohio. Milinda is survived by her husband Scott; son Mitchell; siblings Melanie Radenbaugh, Scott and Michelle Thomas, Michael and Tanya Thomas, and many nieces and […]
Walthers HO Horizon Fleet passenger cars Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $49.98 Era: 1989 to present Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com Features on Walthers HO Horizon Fleet passenger cars: Coach and cafe club food service cars Factory-installed diaphragms GSI roller-bearing trucks with 36” turned-metal wheels with RP-25 […]
Tony Koester, author of the popular Trains of Thought column in Model Railroader magazine and editor of MR’s annual publication Model Railroad Planning, was one of four recipients of the 2025 National Model Railroad Association Pioneer in Model Railroading award. The citation on his award read, “Author of regular articles in the hobby press and […]
Thomas the Tank Engine is the subject of a new documentary. An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact of Thomas the Tank Engine will premiere at this summer’s The Greatest Gathering event in Derby, England. Thomas began his adventures in a book published in 1945, the first in Reverend W. Awdry’s The Railway Series. These stories were […]
Athearn GP40-2 series diesels Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin NEM connector, $229.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami sound decoder, $329.99. Add $10 for Primed for Grime models. Era: 1980s to present (varies based on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Features on Athearn HO GP40-2 series […]
In January of this year, the future looked bleak for the storied Pacific Southern Railway, a model railroad club based in Rocky Hill, New Jersey. Their decades-old, constantly evolving club layout was facing an existential threat. The HO scale Pacific Southern Railway, spanning 5,000 square feet with over 3,500 feet of handlaid track, began its […]
I am a print subscriber to Classic Toy Trains. Have you reported on the discontinuation of the American Flyer model train line by Lionel? I know your magazine isn’t an “investigative reporting” publication but it’s a curious thing that Lionel would discontinue a line of trains that often showed models as “sold out” on their […]
Kids have enjoyed playing with toy soldiers for decades, but did you know these playthings date back to ancient Egypt? Author Simon Clark has written a book that chronicles these miniature figures and the folks who collect them. The book begins with a lengthy introduction, loosely covering the 1930s through present day, with a focus […]
